


the world may disapprove (but my world is only you)

by cissamione



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 05:11:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cissamione/pseuds/cissamione
Summary: Everyone visits Vanessa in hospital two weeks after her stabbing.





	the world may disapprove (but my world is only you)

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARITY DINGLE!!! May you continue to grace our screens forever! Also, Emma has been nominated for a National Television Award, you can vote here: https://www.nationaltvawards.com/vote  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Vanessa turns her head and looks at Charity. The blonde is slumped in her chair, her head resting on her arms on Vanessa’s bed as she dozes. Vanessa has heard from everyone apart from Charity about how worried her girlfriend was while Vanessa was unconscious last week. Her surgery to remove the glass in her abdomen had been a success, but she had been in a medically induced coma for a week. She had also heard about how strong Charity had been, how she had kept herself together, barely, for the boys. Moira had found Johnny up by Butlers farm the same night Vanessa had been stabbed, and she’d kept him with her until the morning once she found out from Chas what had happened. Vanessa’s car had been found my the police, burnt out near Leeds after a couple of days.

Since that night, Johnny had flat out refused to be anywhere Charity or Vanessa weren’t, and after a couple of days, Charity told Vanessa that Moses had picked up on Johnny’s unusual behaviour and began to copy it. So Charity had been forced not to fall apart, because Johnny and Moses both clung to her like limpets.

Moses laughs loudly, and Johnny giggles softly as they play together, and it makes Vanessa smile, until Johnny’s face falls. She follows her son’s eyeline, and sees a woman at the door, holding it ajar. “Hello Vanessa. Can I come in?” The woman is in her seventies, her white hair is styled tidily, and she is dressed in very presentable and modest clothes, something Vanessa can imagine Pearl wearing, but definitely not Faith.

“Okay.” Vanessa says, and she feels her healing wound ache as she draws breath. She is still bedridden, and can’t move much on her own. She looks back to Johnny and sees is eyes filling with tears and his lips beginning to tremble. She knows in a moment he will be wailing. “Come here, love. It’s okay.” Vanessa holds out her hand as much as she can, and Johnny takes a few stumbling steps, blinded by the tears in his eyes.

“S’alright, babe. I’ve got it.” Charity mumbles, blinking heavily as she slides from her chair onto her knees and takes Johnny into her arms, and he wraps his own arms tight around her neck, burying his face into her hair and snuggling as close as he can. After a silent minute as Johnny calms down, Charity stands up with him on her hip, and Moses runs to her, grabbing her legs tightly. She prises him off her and leads him back to her chair, settling one boy on each knee. It’s not till she looks up that she sees Vanessa’s visitor.

“I can go, if it’s a bad time.” The woman says easily, her accent posh to Charity's ears, but still distinctly Yorkshire. She sounds a little like Frank, but Charity dismisses the thought as an echo of her tiredness.

Vanessa shakes her head. “No, it’s not. I mean, it is, I’m in hospital, but it’s not a bad time to visit.” She snaps her mouth shut and turns her head to look at Charity as the woman takes the chair on the other side of the bead, the one with Noah’s bag leaning against it and his coat draped over the back.

“Babe, who is this?” Charity raises a questioning eyebrow, but her voice sounds like she has an inkling of what the answer will be and she won’t like it. Johnny whines, and she bounces her knee a little and makes a funny face at both the boys, her hands tickling their ribs gently until they both smile back at her.

“Uh, Charity, this is my mum, Margaret. Mum, this is my girlfriend, Charity Dingle.” Vanessa said. Perhaps it was the painkillers, or the boredom of being stuck in bed in hospital, or a weird combination of the two, but she suddenly didn’t care what her mother thought of her being in a relationship with a woman. They weren’t in contact really, apart from the cursory birthday and Christmas cards, Vanessa hadn't even seen her mother since Johnny was tiny and she didn’t know who his father was.

Margaret sighed heavily, managing to imbue the exhale with disparagement. “Really, Vanessa, when will you settle down with someone suitable? First it was the schoolboy, and the married one, and now, a- a…”

“A woman?” Charity supplies helpfully, and Vanessa narrows her eyes at the blonde. She knows all too well what Charity can be like sometimes.

“Now’s really not the time, Mum.” Vanessa can’t sigh, it hurts too much, so she opts for a little huff. “If you can’t accept that fact, then you can go.”

“I will, Vanessa.” Margaret says, but she doesn’t make any effort to get up or leave. “I wanted to see that you were alright, and I wanted to see John.”

“The doctors say I’m expected to make a full recovery. You can see him, but after what happened, he’s been quite scared of strangers, so I wouldn’t expect much. Also, we call him Johnny, not John.” Vanessa looks away from her mother and towards her son, who is still on Charity’s knee as Moses begins to wriggle. Johnny’s hand is curled into Charity’s shirt, and Charity’s arms is tight around his shoulders.

Margaret looks across Vanessa at Charity and the boys, and there is a still silence until she speaks up. “Which- which one is..”

“This is Johnny.” Vanessa grits her teeth as she pats Johnny’s knee and he lifts his worried eyes to hers, and she tells herself to keep her temper. She is completely aware that Charity is only being polite because she is. Charity lets Moses down from her knee, and he runs over to the collection of toys they have brought in with them. “And that is Moses.”

“Is he yours, then?” Margaret asks snootily, and Vanessa drops her hand from Johnny’s knee to Charity’s squeezing it tightly, a silent request of ‘please, be polite and she’ll be out of our hair sooner.’

“Yeah. He’s mine.” Charity says with an edge to her voice. “I have three more, as well. Noah, he’s fourteen, and Debbie and Ryan I’d had by the time I were Noah’s age. They all look at our Ness like she’s hung the moon, so I don’t think we’re going anywhere” She smiles at Margaret, but it’s more like she’s baring her teeth, an animal ready to go in for the kill.

“Charity.” Vanessa warns, and she can see the blonde physically pull back, grounding herself with Johnny in her lap.

“You’re just trying to shock me.” Margaret says, and before she can continue, the door swings open again, revealing Noah with his arms full of sandwiches, crisps and coffee, and behind him is Tracy and Ryan. They come in slowly, sensing the taut tension in the room, and Moses is the only one who can’t feel it, running to Tracy to show her a toy.

‘Who’re you?” Noah asks, rudely, and Vanessa frowns at him, but decides not to push the matter. Ryan’s hand comes to rest on Noah’s shoulder.

“Noah, this is my mother, Margaret. Mum, these are Charity’s sons Noah and Ryan, and my sister, Tracy.” Vanessa watches as her mother figures out what she means, watches as her eyes widen, and her shoulders stiffen. Her eyes linger on Ryan with an uncomfortable look.

“Well.” She says with an air of finality as she picks up her handbag and winds her scarf around her neck in silence. “It’s been very nice to meet you all,” she says and it’s said with a tone that indicates she means the exact opposite, “but I really must be off. Bridge club. I hope you feel better soon, Vanessa.” Margaret says as Noah, Ryan, and Tracy move out of her way and she leaves the room, the door swinging shut behind her.

It’s not two seconds after that the door opens again, and Frank walks in with Megan, who is holding a small bunch of flowers. “Teeny, was that…?” He asks hesitantly, and Megan looks at him, confused.

“Yeah, that were Mum. I don’t think she’ll be coming back though.” Vanessa says it with no regret as she looks at the room of people. Charity is giving her a slightly apologetic look, Johnny still clinging to her. Moses is babbling at Tracy, and Noah is slouched in his chair playing on his phone, but Vanessa is under no illusions that he isn’t listening to every single word that is said. Megan and Frank move to the end of the bed, passing the flowers to Charity to put in the vase on the bedside table. “Apparently a lesbian daughter isn’t her cup of tea, and Charity didn’t exactly put her best foot forward.” Vanessa gives Charity a wry smile and squeezes her hand.

“Babe, she didn’t even know which kid was her grandson!” Charity says, outraged, and Tracy stifles a laugh while Ryan makes a suitably outraged face at Moses, who giggles.

“Really, sis?” Tracy looks at Vanessa with disbelief.

“Really, Trace. She had to ask me.” 

“Hiya!” Debbie says as she pushes open the door, followed by Jack and Sarah. “Oh, wow.” She looks around the room. “The kids wanted to see you both, but we can come back tomorrow for a proper visit.” She goes to shuffle the kids out again, but Sarah has dashed over to Charity, and Jack has joined in with Moses, Tracy, and Ryan. “I should let you, know, we passed Paddy, Chas, and Rhona on our way in, so…” Debbie warns, moving as the door opens again.

“Hi, Ness.” Rhona says slowly as she sees the room packed full of people.

“Hi, love.” Chas pushed through to Vanessa’s bedside to hand her a box of chocolates. “Thought you might like something nice.”

“Marlon made you this.” Paddy sets a plastic container of food on the bed, and Charity shifts it to the table with a sigh.

“We’ll leave you to it, I’ll pop by tomorrow when you’re less busy.” Rhona pats Vanessa’s leg and hustles Paddy towards the door as he nods in agreement with her. Chas follows, but before they can leave, the door opens again.

This time it’s a nurse with a thunderous look on her face. “Right. Everyone except Mrs Dingle is leaving, now, thank you. There are about ten too many people in here.” She holds the door open and waits for everyone to file out, each person well-wishing Vanessa and promising to visit again the next day.

Once the room is empty apart from Charity and the boys, Vanessa turns to her girlfriend. “Mrs Dingle, eh?”

“Well babe, what can I say?” Charity smirks as Johnny finally begins to relax against her.

“No, what did you say?” Vanessa corrects. She smiles fondly at Charity and Johnny as Moses runs back over with his elephant.

Charity ruffles Moses’s hair gently. “I might’ve said I was your wife when you were admitted. I knew they’d never let me stay if I just said girlfriend, and I couldn’t leave you again.”

“Charity.” Vanessa says softly, a loving smile curving her lips. “If you wanted to be my wife, you only had to ask.” Vanessa’s eyelids are drooping now, she’s half asleep.

“Might have to make it official before one of us end up in hospital or police custody again, right, babe?” Charity says, a hesitant nervousness in her voice.

“Mmmm.” Vanessa hums, her hand reaching for Charity’s, and the landlady lifts hers from Moses’s head and takes Vanessa’s. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Ness.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, please leave comments and kudos.


End file.
